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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to
a seasonally adjusted 254,000 for the week ended Nov. 5, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week
were unrevised.
It was the 88th consecutive week that claims remained below
300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market.
That is the longest stretch since 1970, the department said.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time
applications for jobless benefits falling to 260,000 in the
latest week.
The Labor Department said there were no special factors
impacting the week's data and that claims for only one state,
Virginia, were estimated.
The four-week moving average of claims, which irons out
volatility, rose 1,750 to 259,750 last week. The number of
people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid
increased 18,000 to 2.04 million in the week ended Oct. 29.
The claims data follows last Friday's monthly employment report
for October, which showed a healthy gain of 161,000 jobs.
With a strong jobs market, the Federal Reserve is still
currently seen raising interest rates at its next meeting in
December despite a shock victory for Republican Donald Trump in
the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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